VA GOP Caucus

We are a concerned and conservative caucus of Commonwealthers, and we brave the 24-hour news cycle, laugh at the liberal media, and bring you thought-provoking news and analysis that you can only find here. Welcome.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

As suspected, the Dilemmacrats are pulling out the same old song and dance for this year's Session. Fairfax Senator Barbara Favola took those tired talking points earlier this week to join Bruce DePuyt on News Talk. You can view the full video here.

A few highlights:

"Certainly I [think] that we need to look at tax credit measures...but I can't say that we should just return those dollars through tax cuts...Virginians aren't over-taxed" -Senator Barbara Favola

She goes on to dismiss the $300 million price tag of Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion on Virginians, calling it "only 10 percent". -Senator Barbara Favola

Riiiight...Just 10 percent. That will be a comforting thought while Virginians have to watch taxes skyrocket or budgets get slashed to pay what she judges to be such a paltry sum. Unlike the Federal government, we cannot simply print more money.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The oft-misleading architect of Obamacare, Jonathan Gruber, who banked on the "stupidity of the American voter", is back in the news for *SHOCKER* having said in 2009 what opponents of the law have been saying ever since..."There are no cost controls in these proposals," Gruber goes on, "Why should we hold...people hostage to the fact that we don’t yet know how to control costs,"

At this point there should have been some thoughts by someone, by anyone involved like "what about the integrity of one of the largest healthcare networks the world has ever seen?" Or "what about the responsibility of America's government to its people to be honest?", the list goes on. Such trivialities fall by the wayside when someone's Presidential legacy is tied to one boondoggle of a bill, I suppose.

Gruber knew. The President knew. Democrat Leadership knew. Congresswoman Pelosi, it passed, and now you know what's in it, or more precisely, what is not.

Monday, December 29, 2014

On January 1, 2015, many Medicaid patients will find that their doctors cannot afford to keep their care up anymore. The reason? The ACA's cost-cutting sunset passes at Midnight December 31st.

A study by the liberal Urban Institute has estimated that in Virginia, payments to doctors that cover Medicaid patients are expected to drop 28.1%. That gap is considerable, and could cost Medicaid recipients here their physician if the federal government's reimbursement rate does not allow them to continue accepting Medicaid patients. Compared with the expected national average of 47%, though, Virginia's doctors look lucky. Thirty eight other states' Medicaid networks will feel an even more significant hit than us. Columnist Robert Pear wrote an article in Saturday's New York Times on the coming problem, which can be read here.

What's worse, these doctors, who had assumed that their reimbursement rates could only be cut to the point of making Medicaid care unfeasible, are finding that the cuts imply a much deeper problem. The Obama Administration's assertion that doctors are not even eligible to sue the government to enforce its own policies is even more unsettling. Originally, the government could not lower their reimbursement rates to the point of forcing doctors and entire geographic areas out of the Medicaid network, which these cuts threaten to do. The Administration has told the Supreme Court that doctors have no grounds sue the government to enforce that rule.

The Obama Administration's actions amount to a monumental bait and switch routine. Obamacare pushes through massive spending to expand Medicaid rolls beyond reason, and then pulls the massive spending that fuels the expansion, leaving doctors holding the bag, and patients on the street.